The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-10-10
No Mercy For Pirates,
New York Sun.

New Ork sun.
Ihave several times heard my faith
or, who was Lieutenant aboard Of
II. NJ. S. spitfire, tell OF his adventures
among the pirates who used to make
the coasts OF Arabia and Persia such
n terror TO seamen. 1t took many
years and plenty OF hard knocks to
clear the seas OF those gentry, and the
crews OF the war ships received more
wounds than prize money. One story
in particular, which heard my father
tell several times over, had a peculiar
interest for me, for had seen the
vessel spoken OF in dock at Liverpool.
l will give the yarn in his own Ian
guaee as near as ! can:
ave had run across from Lacca
dive Islands to the Gulf OF Alden, and
were lust inside the Island OF Soco
ira when we picked up sailor float
ing on n plank. 1t was about 7o'clocR
in the morning, with little or no sea
running, and the lookout saw hlm
when we were yet a mile away. How
he was preserved from the SHARKS
has always been a mystery to me
When we lowered u boat to pick nm
up he was fairly surrounded by the
hungry monsters. Through the
ships glass ] counted nineteen cut.
ting the water around his float, and
] could not believe that the boat
would be able to reach him before he
was drawn down. II Providence ever
makes n special effort for poor hui
manity it made a grand effort to
preserve that sailors life and
permit him to fulfill his mission,
He was drawn safely aboard the boat,
and when he had a glass OF grog we
got his story. He had been a second
mate on board an American brig
named the True Flag. think she
hailed from Boston, but am not sure.
i saw her in Liverpool three years be-
fore this incident, and painted on her
stern was the first American flag ]
had ever seen except at q distance,
This was the reason | remembered he'
above all the Others.
"The American had been up the Gull
and into the Red Sea, and had come
out with part OF cargo, and was 60
ing back to Mirbat to finish loading,
when he was attacked by three pirate
dhows. This occurred the evening be.
fore, and only twenty miles north OF
the island. The attack was made att
err shutdown, and while two other
merchantmen were in sight. Thedhows
had been noticed lowering about,
and their evil intention was sus-
pected, but it was little the crew
OF the brig could do to defend them
selves. They had a few old muskets
and cutlasses, but the dhows ran the
brig aboard, poured fifty or sixty
men on her decks, and the fight was over
in five minutes. The mate knowing
that all was lost, had gone overheard
with plank during the confusion,
and the wind and sea had drifted him
down across our course. There was
no doubt that every man aboard the
brig had been cut down or saved Tor
captivity and ransom, and that the
vessel had been thoroughly plundered
by that time, but it was just such an
incident tina. we wanted to hear OF.
We hadn't had brush with the pi-
rates for several weeks and were getting
rusty for the want OF work.
1.-THE Spitfre was, OF course, a sail
ing ship. She was a snug craft OF
thirty six guns, with strong and
ready crew, and the first thing done
nfter hearing the sailors story was to
heave her to in the light wind and
transform her from q though. and
trim man-of-war into a merchant
man. had charge of this work, and
it was not the first time we made the
change to deceive the pirates. Inside
OF three hours the best glass aboard
OF n dhow could not have told Spit
Gre OF the Royal Navy from Sarah
Jane of New Bedford And then We
beat up to the north for further news
concerning the brig. The wind was
light and battling, and when night
came we had seen nothing. Just at
dark, however, French bark com
ing out of Keshin reported seeing
three dhows and a brig standing in
for a bay between Mirbat and the
latter place-a hiding place and rem
devious, as we dad previously been IN
formed. We could do nothing goinl
in there in the night, but We stood or
till pretty well in to the coast and
then prepared to lay of and on
After midnight we got a stiflish land
breeze and had to run TO sea. and il
was well that this happened so. Wher
morning came we could Just make out
the coast range OF mountains through
the glass. and the breeze was dead
against us. 1t was only well into
daylight when the dhows were espied
coming out. We set a signal OF dis
tress and pointed the ships nose fol
the Gulf, but we took good care not
4 L..